Language instruction commonly takes place in a classroom in which a teacher administers lessons to students. Lessons may cover the basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the language to be learned, i.e., in the “target language.”
Often, teachers will speak in class primarily in the target language, so that students can develop skills at listening to the sounds and structure of the target language and interpreting its meaning. Students may be expected to respond in kind, speaking primarily in the target language. Students are thus encouraged to develop their “ear” for the target language as they also build competence in their own oral production and pronunciation.